- Border-to-Border and Low Population Density Round 10 State-funded Grants awarded
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BEAD Challenge, resources + updates
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Digital Opportunity Update
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OBD, out of office!
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Governor’s Task Force on Broadband to meet Monday October, 21st
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Welcome to our new staff in the Office of Broadband Development!
Border-to-Border and Low Population Density Round 10 State-funded Grants Awarded
Governor Tim Walz today announced $52 million in grants to expand broadband access to an estimated 7,700 homes and businesses throughout Minnesota.
This grant round, administered by the Department of Employment and Economic Development's (DEED) Office of Broadband Development (OBD), marks the 10th time DEED has released funding through the Border-to-Border Broadband Program since it was established in 2014.
The grant awards announced today (pictured left, OBD Executive Director Bree Maki, DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek, and Meeker Cooperative CEO Luke Johnson) will help broadband providers expand high-speed broadband service in 24 counties across Minnesota. The grants come from two DEED programs:
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$25 million from DEED's flagship Border-to-Border Broadband Program, through which broadband provider grantees are reimbursed for up to half the eligible cost of deploying broadband infrastructure, with funding for a single project capped at $10 million.
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$27 million from the Low Population Density Program, which offers grants to providers building broadband service to areas of Minnesota with particularly low population densities and high broadband deployment costs. The grants can be worth up to $10 million and cover up to 75% of the total cost of a project.
To date, DEED has awarded over $400 million in Border-to-Border or Low Population Density grants, providing broadband access to nearly 120,000 homes and businesses. Communities and internet service providers contributed over $48 million in matching funds for this grant round and over $400 million for all grant rounds to date Learn more about these grant programs on OBD's webpage here.
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BEAD Challenge, resources + updates
Recent updates on the BEAD Challenge and BEAD program are:
- The BEAD Challenge has moved into it’s third and final phase, adjudication. During the adjudication phase, OBD will make decisions on the submitted challenges and rebuttals to determine eligibility of challenged locations for BEAD funding, all subject to NTIA review and approval. Resources from previous Challenge phases are available on the OBD BEAD webpage, as well as the BEAD FAQ.
- The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved Minnesota’s BEAD Volume 2. The approved version, as well as the original submission from OBD in December 2023 are both available on the OBD BEAD webpage. A press release on the approval of Minnesota’s initial proposal for $650 million in federal funding is also available here.
Digital Opportunity Updated
The National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) is conducting a national survey to gather information about local and regional digital inclusion coalitions. NDIA will analyze this information to understand trends and promising practices for digital inclusion coalitions.
Minnesota organizations and communities that have digital inclusion coalitions, committees, workgroups, etc. are encouraged to take NDIA’s survey no later than Friday November 15.
OBD, out of office!
In the past month, staff from OBD has been busy with opportunities to visit sites and check on the progress of projects with Border-to-Border (B2B) funding and celebrate rural broadband expansion. This has included visits:
 Work crew in Waseca County plowing fiber in the ground.
The first and second week in September, staff visited Waseca County for a Bevcomm Waseca County Fiber project (pictured above); Washington County for a Comcast-Xfinity Washington County project; and the City of Nowthen for a second Comcast-Xfinity project.
During the week of September 16th, staff visited Canby for the Interstate Telecommunications Company – Yellow Medicine County West Fiber-To-The-Home Project (pictured left) and rural Aitkin for the Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative (MLEC) – Phase 6 MLEC Fiber to the Home. Staff also met in Moorhead for the 702 Communications – Western Clay County Kragnes Township project; Rice for Benton Communications – Golden Spike (Mayhew Lake) and Benton County South of Trunk Highway 23 project site visits; and Hinckley for site visits with Savage Communications, Inc. for the Northern Mille Lacs County Broadband Expansion, Aitkin County Broadband Expansion, and Carlton County Broadband Expansion projects.
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Visits the week of September 23rd included going to Brandon for Gardonville Cooperative Telephone Association projects and met at the Runestone Telecom Association office in Hoffman then visited the Herman-Dumont grant project area.
Last week OBD staff also went to Erskine, to visit Garden Valley projects, and attended a Charter fiber celebration in Lakeville.
Governor’s Task Force on Broadband to meet Monday October, 21st
The Task Force will meet in St. Paul, MN at 10 a.m. Central Time on Monday October 21st. The meeting will have virtual as well as in-person options for attending and is open to the public. More information on this and past meetings can be found on the Broadband Task Force webpage.
Welcome to our new staff in the Office of Broadband Development!
Kristina Ruport, Broadband Program Assistant
Kristina joins us with a background in financial services and business management. As a former banker and photography business owner, she brings a unique blend of analytical and creative skills to her role. She looks forward to supporting our staff, partners, and communities with a positive attitude and entrepreneurial spirit.
Outside of the office, you’ll find Kristina spending quality time with her husband, identical twin boys, and stepdaughter. She also enjoys immersing herself in great books and capturing life’s beauty through photography.
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